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Ethics: Discovering

Right and Wrong


Louis J. Pojman
and James Fieser
Seventh Edition
Chapter One:
What is Ethics?
What is it to be a moral person?
What is the nature of morality?
Why do we need morality?
What function does morality play?
How do I know what is the good?
What is Ethics?
Are moral principles absolute?
Are moral principles relative to social
groups or individual decisions?
Is morality only in the view of the
person being moral?
Is there a time for me to act
immorally?
How can I justify my moral beliefs?
What is Ethics?
What is the basis of morality?
Which ethical theory best justifies
and explains moral life?
What is moralitys relationship with
religion?
law?
social etiquette?
Moral vs. Ethical
Terms moral and ethical are often
used interchangeably but both derive
their meaning from the idea of
custom
The term moral comes from
the Latin (meaning mores)
and
the Greek (meaning ethos)
Morality refers to
Certain Customs
Certain Precepts
Certain Practices of Peoples and
Cultures

Positive or Descriptive Morality:


is used to describe actual beliefs
and customs of a culture
Moral Philosophy
Refers to philosophical or theoretical
reflection on morality
Your author terms these theories
Ethical Theories

These theories come from moral


philosophical reflections.
Ethics
Refers to the whole domain of
morality and moral philosophy

Both areas are connected by common


concerns in different ways through:
Values, Virtues, Principles
And Practices
Ethics and its Subdivisions

(1) Descriptive morality

(2) Moral philosophy (ethical theory)

(3) Applied ethics


(1)Descriptive Morality
Refers to actual beliefs, customs,
principles, and practices of people
and cultures.

Example: Sociologists pay attention to


moral practices of social groups and
treat them as cultural facts
(2) Moral Philosophy
The systematic effort to
understand moral concepts and
justify moral principles and theories.

Moral Philosophy analyzes key ethical


concepts such as right, wrong,
and permissible.
(2) Moral Philosophy
Explores possible sources of moral
obligation such as God, human
reason, or the desire to be happy

Seeks to establish principles of right


behavior that may serve as action
guides for individuals and groups
(3) Applied Ethics
Deals with controversial moral
problems such as abortion,
premarital sex, capital punishment,
euthanasia, and civil disobedience
Morality as Compared with
Other Normative Subjects
Morality has a distinct action-guiding,
or normative, aspect which is also
shared with other practices such as
religion, law and etiquette.

Morality differs from religion, law and


etiquette.
Morality and Religion
Moral behavior is usually essential to
religions practice
Neither the practices nor principles of
morality should be identified with
religion
Practice of morality need not be
motivated by religious considerations
Moral principles need not be grounded
in revelation or divine authority
Morality and Religion
Religious ethics grounded in revelation
or divine authority
Ethics is characterized by its grounding
in reason and human experience
Some versions of religious ethics hold
that reason can discover what is right or
wrong even apart from divine revelation
Morality and Law
Many laws are instituted in order to:
promote well-being
resolve conflicts of interest
promote social harmony
Morality and Law
Morality also does all of these three.

Ethics may judge that some laws are


immoral without denying that they have
legal authority
Law and Morality Differ
Some aspects of morality are not
covered by law, ie. Lying in general
Intention plays a role in determining
legal character of an act, once the act
has been committed but bad intentions
themselves are not illegal but can be
immoral
Morality and Etiquette
Etiquette determines what is polite
behavior

Morality determines what is right


behavior in a deeper sense

To disregard or defy etiquette in some


cases can be considered immoral
Limitations of Religion, Law, &
Etiquette
Religion Rests on authority that may
lack certainty or agreement on
authority credentials or how authority
would rule in new cases. Reason may
not be able to persuade.
Law Every social ill cannot have a
law and not all rules can be enforced
Etiquette Does not go to the heart
of what is important for existence
Traits of Moral Principles
Central to morality are moral
principles which have have these
five traits:
Prescriptivity
Universalizability
Overridingness
Publicity
Practicability
Prescriptivity
The practical or action-guiding, nature
of morality.
Moral principles generally put forth

as commands or imperatives
Intended for use: to advise and

influence action
Used to appraise behavior, assign

praise and blame, and produce


feelings of satisfaction or guilt
Universalizability
Moral principles must apply to all
people who are in a relevantly similar
situation.
Exemplified in the Golden Rule

Applies to all evaluative judgments.

An extension of the principle of

consistentcy
Overridingness
Moral principles have predominant
authority and override other kinds of
principles
Take precedence over considerations

including aesthetic, prudential, and


legal ones
Religion is a special case where a

command may override a normal


moral rule
Publicity
Moral Principles must be made public
in order to guide our actions
Necessary because principles are

used to prescribe behavior, give


advice, and assign praise and blame
Keeping a moral principle secret

would be self-defeating
Practicability
A Moral Principle must be workable
and its rules must not lay a heavy
burden on us when we follow them
Rules must take human limitations

into consideration so as to prevent


moral despair, deep or undue moral
guilt, and ineffective action
Domains of Ethical
Assessment
Most ethical analysis falls into one or more
of the following domains:

Action
Consequences
Character
Motive
Action
Actions are usually termed
right or wrong.

Right can be an ambiguous term.

Right can mean


Obligatory or
Permissible
Right Action
1. A right act is an act that is permissible for
you to do. It may be either:
a. An obligatory act is one that morality
requires you to do; it is not permissible for
you to refrain from doing it

b. An optional act An act not obligatory


or wrong to do; not your duty to do or not to
do
Wrong Action
2. A wrong act is one you have an
obligation, or a duty, to refrain from doing:
It is an act you ought not to do; it is not
permissible to do it.
Supererogatory Acts
These actions are within the range of
permissible acts.
Also known as highly altruistic acts.
These acts are neither required nor
obligatory
They exceed what morality requires.
They go beyond the call of duty.
Complete Scheme of
Acts
1. Right act (permissible)
a. Obligatory act
b. Optional act
(1) Neutral act
(2) Supererogatory act
2. Wrong act (not permissible)
Deontological Theories
Emphasize the nature of the act
Some acts are inherently good or right and
some acts are inherently wrong or bad
Kant defended a principle of moral duty he
calls the categorical imperative
Deontological theories have in common
the view that we have an inherent duty to
perform right actions and avoid bad actions
Consequences
Actions based on the foreseeable outcome
of a course of decision
Ethical theories that focus primarily on
consequences in determining moral
rightness or wrongness are called:
Teleological Ethics
Utilitarianism is the most famous of these
and requires us to do what is likeliest to
have the best consequences
Character
Ethical theories that emphasize character,
or virtue are virtue theories
Good character traits are virtues
Bad character traits are vices
Aristotle maintained that the development
of virtuous character traits is needed to
ensure that we habitually act rightly
Vital to empower our character with the
tendency to do good
Motive
Ethically assess situations by examining
the motive of the people involved
Virtually all ethical systems recognize the
importance of motives
For a full assessment of any action it is
important to take the agent's motive into
account
Seemingly identical acts may differ morally
due to a difference of motives
Conclusion
Ethics has enormous practical benefits:
Can free us from prejudice and dogmatism

Has comprehensive systems from which to


orient individual judgments
Helps us to think more clearly about moral
problems
Shows how principles and values relate to
one another
Gives us some guidance in how to live
Answering Initial
Questions
What is the nature of morality, and why do
we need it?
What is the good, and how will I know it?

Is it in my interest to be moral?

What is the relationship between: morality


and religion?
morality and the law?
morality and etiquette?

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